Israel still acts as the british designed it to

Forming for England ‘a little loyal Jewish Ulster’ in a sea of potentially hostile Arabism.

Ronald Storrs – British Governor of Jerusalem 1917-1926

At certain points the officialdom of imperialism will give away the truth of their actions. The above quote from Ronald Storrs, taken from his book entitled ‘Orientations’ and gives away the key reason why the country now known as Israel was formed and why it became a project endorsed and promoted by British imperialism. Theodor Herzl is credited with being the founder of Zionism in the modern era but it is worth noting that a belief in the return of Jews to the Holy Land is one that has seen significant support within radical forms of protestantism going back into the nineteenth century. By the time of Herzl’s death in 1904 the Zionist movement had certainly gained a foothold and Jewish migration to what was then Ottoman administered Palestine was increasing. The adoption of the project by the British Empire though changed things, with the Balfour Declaration of 1917 it became official to promote the Zionist project. This came at an opportune moment for the British Empire, the Ottoman state was collapsing and the successor states needed to be kept from unifying or organising themselves in such a way as to be able to challenge British domination over the Middle East and North Africa.

The British imperialists were also facing the reality that their empire was less powerful and faced further decline, their reduced economic situation meant that they needed to rely more on proxies and puppet rulers than before. Having successfully sowed ruinous divisions within Ireland by promoting the protestant settlers into the status of a higher caste in Ireland they had a model of how to create and sustain permanent conflict in an area. Take a minority religious group and elevate them into your regional enforcers. This is the model upon which the Israeli state was first designed by the British and after the weakening of the British empire after the Suez debacle of 1956 US imperialism took over the management of the Zionist state.

The role that Israel played in the cold war was that of attack for US imperialism in the region, principally aimed at Communists and Arab nationalist governments whose influence could seriously affect the interests of the US block in the region. By subcontracting this out to Israel the US was making an investment in an ultra-militarist state that would be tied to it and dependent upon it for protection. The game played here is one that was first developed by the British and (like so many) things further honed by the US. In the occupied six counties of Ireland the protestant settlers were used to staff security forces which would impose a state backed reign of terror against the both the (largely Catholic) working class and against any in the protestant working class who tried to build movements along class lines. Israel is playing this role, the role Storrs originally had in mind for a Zionist state, to this day. Even after the collapse of the socialist block and the implosion of many Arab socialist and nationalist movements the US alliance with Israel remained vital. Israel played a big supporting role in the US war on Syria, even transporting ISIS fighters to medical facilities at one point, and it’s political leaders continue to lead the charge for some kind of war against Iran.

The actions of the Israeli state must thus be seen clearly for what they are, the actions of US imperialism. Israel may act the part of a sovereign state but it is a project that was designed by one empire and managed by another. It’s purpose was to divide and crush the movements of the Arab masses one hundred years ago and this remains its task. Whenever the Israeli state commits some heinous act of murder we must always be clear that this is an action of US imperialism because Israel is the attack dog that Storrs and his British colleagues designed it to be over a century ago. When you see the mad dog, foaming at the mouth, never forget who its master is.